Unproven science used to ‘explain’ custody deaths

February 1, 2012 in Breaking News, Custody Deaths & Abuse by Zinzi Eka-Naphtali

originally by: TBIJ  
published: 31st January 2012

A controversial unproven syndrome with roots in the US is being used in British coroners’ courts to explain why people die after police restraint. 

‘Excited delirium’ or ‘sudden-in-custody-death-syndrome’ is a niche diagnosis not yet recognised by the World Health Organisation or any international authority. A number of leading pathologists have expressed concern about the use of the term in inquests. Listen to Programme >

Individuals in the throes of  excited delirium are described as aggressive, agitated, displaying bizarre behaviour, insensitive to pain and with superhuman strength until they collapse and die

But research by the Bureau has found that the ‘condition’ has been used by coroners to explain 10 restraint-related deaths that occurred in police custody in England and Wales since the late 1990s.

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UFFC’s letter to Nick Herbert’s letter in reply to our letter to the Prime Minister

January 31, 2012 in Custody Deaths & Abuse, Race & Society by UFFC Admin

Letter sent to Nick Herbert
(Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice):
30th January 2012

The Rt. Hon Nick Herbert MP
Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF

Dear Mr Herbert

Re: Deaths in State Custody

Thank you for your letter of 7 December 2011 in reply to our letter to the Prime Minister of 28 October.

You state that the Independent Police Complaints Commission (the “IPCC”), a public body providing a specific service to the public is “independent – ‘by law’ – and they make their decisions independently of the police”. You thereafter go on to outline the definition for what this means and to whom the IPCC are accountable and the procedures – by law – taken by the IPCC. We thank you for your clarification.

We note that you make no reference to any report to the fact that 8 out of 9 senior investigators within the IPCC are ex-police officers. Neither do you comment on the Home Affairs Select Committee’s Inquiry into the work of the IPCC and that the IPCC ‘fail to inspire public confidence’.

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Alder family set to lay Christopher to rest within weeks

January 14, 2012 in Custody Deaths & Abuse by Zinzi Eka-Naphtali

originally by: Hull & East Riding 
published: 7th January 2012

The brother of Christopher Alder, the ex-paratrooper at the centre of a body mix-up, says he expects to finally bury him within the next few weeks. Tests were carried out yesterday on the body, found in Hull Royal Infirmary’s mortuary, believed to be that of the father-of-two. His funeral took place in 2000, two years after his death in police custody, aged 37. 

It is thought the body of a Nigerian woman, Grace Kamara, 77, was buried in his grave in Hull’s Western Cemetery instead.

Richard Alder, 52, of Burstwick, said: “The results of the tests will give our family the confirmation we need.”

At the request of the brothers’ sister, Janet, 50, the tests were carried out by Professor Jack Crane, state pathologist for Northern Ireland.

Mr Alder said: “We are expecting the results in the next three weeks. After that, we can get on with organising Christopher’s funeral.”

Mr Alder is adamant that his brother should be buried in the same plot, where they believed he had laid for more than a decade. As first revealed in the Mail, the ashes of the veteran’s niece, Laura, who died in 2006, were scattered over the grave at her specific request.

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